A cupboard of tips and trends

Now you’re probably wondering what this antique chair and simple little grapevine wreath are doing here. They are reminders of 2 things. First is, that yes, fall is on its way. I know it’s august but up here in VT the leaves are just starting to look a bit tinted already, the sumac is showing its burnt red flower pods and the grasses are starting to seed. If that wasn’t enough, how about all the Old Navy and Staples ads with the back to school stuff, yikkes!

Anyway, with fall, the second thing is the tips and trends of fall entertaining articles.



Let me cut to the chase here:



#1- Mix materials!  Nothing is less creative than matching everything with matching everything else. That’s just dull.  Better to mix it up, a ceramic platter with cut veggies with glass bowls full of dip, a copper charger with crackers used with horn bowls of assorted olives on top. Mix up wood, metal, ceramic, glass, horn, alternate metals, like copper or aluminum with each other for a more collected look.



#2 – Layer the materials with fall accents and elements. Consider a small gourd cut in half to serve a dip out of or a seasoned olive oil from.  Use a few decorative kale leaves to use under plates.  They add color as well as keep the plates from slipping!  Use a slice of pumpkin to hold toothpicks for small bites either when being served before or for collecting used toothpicks in.



Ok so back to the chair.



The big idea in entertaining is to complete a continuous theme. If you want to know what that means, tune in tomorrow..

Flower Power

Flowers are such great additions to tables.  Nothing emphasizes the natural word as much as flowers, especially when used to add color, texture, drama or a focal accent. They signal us to the season and perhaps even give us a clue to how formal or casual the event itself might be.  Whether you pick some in your backyard, a grocery store or the finest florist, choose what appeals to you and what you wish to convey to your guests. Choose colors that work with other tabletop elements as far as contrast or coordination, that’s entirely up to you.

These flowers were displayed at my nieces wedding last month on each table. They were gorgeous in their perfection. The choices of pale pinks, creamy whites with spring greens from the variety of hydrangeas, roses, calla lilies, peonies and baby’s breath added to the soft elegance of the occasion and room setting.  The crystals, of course, added to the sparkle she desired in her theme and created a magical and shimmery effect. It was after all a wedding celebration in the late evening in an ornate palace of a room. The royal theme was elegant, lavish and femininely formal.



It was a very clever and easy concept.  The flowers were actually arranged on a large glass plate that was built up with oasis to help get the shape and height.  This was then placed on a tall vase like cylinder shape vase that was filled with a few white stem orchids. The height allowed the masses of blooms to appear to float weightlessly above the heads (and view) of the seated guests.

This display was in my kitchen earlier in the month.  The goal here was to add a festive abundance of eye popping summer colors.  My friends Sharon and Larry had sent the flowers (always good to have friends with good taste!) and I used a Simon Pearce Hurricane as a giant vase.  Had I had the extra lemons, I would have filled the vase with them before adding the stems to carry the yellow color, but that’s ok and I was short on time.  (PS- always remember, no one usually knows what you shortcut on, they don’t see what you didn’t show.)

But I went to my refrigerator and pulled out all the fruit I had to bring the color down from the flowers and add more oomph.  This was right next to a counter area I used as a bar, so it served as décor as well as a focal point to signal this self serve area.  Fruit lasts longer than vegetables but both are usually reasonable in cost and gives you an edible accent to use both now and later.

Sweet Treats

I should have seen it coming, I saw the first Crumbs store go in and recently Georgetown Bakery in Boston, but it looks like cup cakes are the new retro thing for x-gen’s, next gen’s and ‘millennial’s” alike.  AND WHO CAN RESIST? Colorful, cute, and sweet, designer cupcakes are the new loves on the block. From a fast lunch, coffee break to wedding cake substitute, these portable yummies are the new “go-to” snack of style.  I guess there is also an immense comfort in something so recognizable to me.  The very shape is iconic and it seems that the big glop of frosting on top is permissible in any diet.  Looks like the next thing dear Mr. Bloomberg might have to censor (but wait, it’s OK for New Yorkers to gulp down millions of cups of coffee with cream?).



Anyway I digress, but for me it’s just one more thing for a generation who grew up eating with their hands at McDonalds’ instead of the dinner table yet another portable thing that requires little tabletop experience.


When you serve dessert, use cake plates, at least to serve from.  No out of the box settings please!

I mentioned earlier how napkins can bring out an accent color you might want to play up in your interior or seasonal setting. Note here how the napkin is laid in thirds to create a long flat runner. (Shown on right for effect.) It is then slid under plate and tucked at top of basket weave charger. Look at how a few clear vases with rocks picked up at the seashore are like small studies. Water could be added; flower stems could be cut short, like Gerber daises and floated above the rocks to add a jolt of orange or hot pink. Sunflowers also last a longer time when cut short and their color would make this table even brighter. a few springs of purple lavender or stattice and the table would become an over the top French Country.

Consider your plate as the face of the table, the mats and napkins you choose are like the hat and scarf; napkin rings and flatware are the jewelry to add shine and glassware adds sparkle like sunglasses or a pair of diamond earrings.

For your tabletop wardrobe consider several sets of choices for mats and napkins to dress up, dress down or add seasonal colors to your settings. Imagine this as your walk in closet and mix and match as you like to set the mood you so desire. Just as you get dressed for the day or events consider how you wish to dress your table.

All about white..

I've talked a lot about white dinnerware. Pictured here are Woodbury Birch, top, with Woodbury Flatware and Woodbury stemware and Corinth, stemware, flatware and dinnerware. Both are handmade in Vermont by Simon Pearce. It’s a company that is world renowned for its American made pottery and glass. In Vermont for over 40 years and still producing some of the finest glass made is not an easy feat.  But I wanted to show you these two examples because white doesn’t have to be ultra modern, super edgy, cold or sterile or like mass produced items sometimes a bit cheesy.  What is beautiful about these is that they fit into a tremendous amount of interior styles and can blend seamlessly with alternate elements for a timeless look.



We don’t keep our cars 20 years; the average American moves every 4 years; we don’t keep our clothing, hairstyles (or sometimes hair color) forever but our dishes? They do seem to be expected to last forever.  And with just a bit of care they can!



But that doesn’t mean locking them away in a china cabinet and bringing them out for special occasions and Holidays or not using them.  That truly is the investment of such quality made pieces, its beauty we can use every day and should be a part of enjoying our lives every day.

Use the best, use what you love, enjoy it every day- what are earth are you saying it for?  Living life is all about the now.  Right now and all around you, get into it! And set a gorgeous table.

a good set of white dinnerware is your best investment

White  Dinnerware- why its the first place to start your investment.

• Its classic yet somehow playful and transitional, goes with everything, never out of style.
• Layers create interest, shape and texture to the table and serving choices.
• Can be dressed up or dressed down. 
• Accent items personalize and create unique settings. 
• Serve ware also extends the set for different serving needs. 
• Can be layered in or added to a customer’s existing dinnerware and extended with metallic or colorful accents to expand it into any season, holiday or celebration style.
• It lets food be the star.
• It can mix with assorted stems to further the collected or unique look.
• It can mix with just about anything from older pieces to newer accents
• Can be changed easily with textiles, stems and flatware.
• It’s a classic look that, with mixing updates and adds character to the table.
• Fool proof in setting, ingredients always create a perfect mix.
•  Should something ever break you don’t have to worry about a hard to find replacement piece.
• Setting a creative table isn’t about rules it’s about what works for you and what shows your style.
• Allows your style to change as life and tastes evolve.
• When choosing dinnerware that looks white to you-think in terms of body composition and your likes or durability needs- bone china, the whitest, thinnest and most durable, the white is from the material itself.  Porcelain also a solid white compositon material - ranges of milky whites, from skim to cream, durable but needs to be a bit thicker and heavier for durability.  Stoneware- glazes help to cover the clay body to make the surface white, higher firing makes everyday durability.  Earthenware- also needs a glaze coating for whiteness, not fired as high, softer and porus, somewhat durable but will chip and break with sudden impact.

Mixing white dinnerware allows you to create your personal look and allows you to change it up when you feel like it. Setting a creative table isn’t about rules as much as it's about what works for you. It’s a fuss free and easy approach to setting the everyday table on a busy weeknight to your most elegant occasions.

 Charger plates can be used for serving during the week or for buffets. On the weekends when you want to dress up the table they are the first layers to start with, emphasizing the dinner, salad and other items depending on the menu. Alternating accent plates, appetizer plates and stemware (such as a martini or flute) on the dinner plates as well using small glass or wood bowls and plates makes the table more interesting.  Placemats, napkins, flatware and stemware are easy changes to use for impact, mood or festivity. Accents such as centerpiece bowl, candlesticks or tea lights further enhance the look you wish to achieve.

• A tablecloth, runner, placemat and napkin can completely change the look.

• Flowers, from a garden or florist add elegance, theme and color accents.

• Mixing dinnerware keeps the look crisp and new. The unexpected contrasts bring a chic sort of collected style to your table.

• White dinnerware allows any textile color or pattern to be used without conflict.

• Layering adds interest to the table and can be worked into the layers of the menu- appetizer, salad, main course, dessert.

• Consider the type of meals and settings used. White has the versatility to go from Breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts, brunches, buffets, family dinners, formal dinners, pizza and pasta to appetizers to lobster.

• Add metals, like pewter or aluminum alloys or glass plates and bowls to add shine or natural materials such as wood or horn to other elements of the white tablesetting to create interest and contrast.

• With white, metals also give the plates a boost; gold accents might add a warm rich accent while silver adds a modern coolness.  Hammered finishes add an energetic sparkle; copper will add warmth and darker forged looks underscore a crafted and old world quality.

• Black accents define crisp edges of white and when used with silver or steel flatware create a clean and contemporary flair to the table.

• Florals or collected home accents become decorative features for the table.  White dinnerware transcends the seasons and fresh or dried botanicals in either natural or brilliant colors will always work.  An arrangement of just assorted green leaves from the garden will bring a sophisticated coolness and casual luxury to the setting. 

• White has the staying power to work with other patterned pieces, such as older blue and white import dinnerware, antique pieces or even garage sale finds.  It’s a great extender for mixing incomplete sets as well as odd pieces to create various place settings that still look cohesive and planned.

• White serving pieces from lost or previously owned sets mix effortlessly and add an eclectic value to being added into the table. Soup tureens, platters, pitchers or casseroles can be used for focal points, flowers or serving.

• White flowers don’t always match so it’s ok if a variety of white plates are used on a table.  Ivory, cream, old or new, antique, casual or formal; different shapes and sizes or textures, your table will take on a personal, collected and unique look. Display a mix of white flowers to enhance this old world look of romance and underscore this collected look.

• If you don’t have enough of something try alternating the place settings, nothing says that each place setting at a table has to be exactly the same. Build your table with key pieces and add on as desired.  From your collection countless settings can be created based on nothing more than a mood or what was most easily selected at the time.

ENJOY!

Accent Plates; the passion of your fashion

Accent plates; the start of your tabletop wardrobe.

Accent plates are often used to enhance a setting and I’m a big believer in the power they provide.  White dinnerware remains the largest seller and continued most popular purchase most people make. An accent plate can be really any plate that you want to interject into the mix.  For the most part a 5 piece place setting is the dinner plate, salad plate, bread and butter and cup and saucer. With casual sets , often sold in 16 pc sets- the 4 piece combination is dinner plate, soup/cereal bowl, salad plate and mug.  Lately the distinction between casual and formal has been blurred. Customers today want either an everyday casual or something that can be used everyday but dressed up a bit for a special dinner.

Hence the importance of an “accent plate”. Accents plates work best for salad plate sizes that can be put on top of a white dinner plate, for instance imagine a white dinner plate with a blue, white and yellow salad size on top.  Yellow napkins or a French country textile would really make this pop and extend the feeling.  Charger plates; those that go under the dinner plate at dressier occasions could also be used as an accent, especially in colors or alternate materials like wood, glass, copper or brass.

Note:  it does help to coordinate the body color of the dinner plate to the accent plate, for example; a porcelain white plate dinner plate may not be as white as a bone china accent plate and may result in a dingy kind of look. White dinnerware you will find comes in a great variety of whites.  Take your dinner plate to the shop, antique store, flea market or potter and try your mix and match there and in a variety of lighting types.  Consider putting a bread and butter size white over the accent salad and see how that works. This is a good layering effect that may be used most often when serving a special appetizer at the start of a meal..

Have fun using and collecting accents plates to change up your table.  Consider designs based on the seasons, textiles, interior colors or interior styles that you like. Like your clothing a tabletop wardrobe allows you to vary the look with your personality, feelings, season, occasions and interior style.

The Farmers Cupboard

The Farmers Cupboard

Anyone who knows me understands that I get excited over any kind of retail that makes me see something new.  I also love people and their stories.  Yesterday, my friend Maria brought me to a new store that just opened a few weeks ago, The Farmers Cupboard.  Mr. Terry McDonnell is the proprietor and he loves cheese! Now I know cheese, but he made me SEE cheese again.  He has a great variety of cheese and was kind enough to offer samples which of course were amazing! There is aged cheddar that crumbles beautifully in texture and has a nutty sweet flavor that is amazing!

You must buy the goat milk caramels and the absolutely outrageous maple custard that truly is the best thing on the planet.  There is also a Bloody Mary mix that shortcuts a gazpacho recipe that is superior and can’t wait to use this weekend.  Besides a fun and interesting personality inside, the store design on the outside is fantastic. I was over the top on it because I saw it as a terrific idea for a house design.  Granite, beams and steel combine to create a vintage western contemporary* that is both welcoming and futuristic in sense.  I loved it so much I wanted him to build me one.

The Farmers Cupboard is adjacent to Harpoon Brewery and the Path of Life Sculpture Garden in Windsor Vermont at 71 Artisans Way. Simon Pearce is just a stone’s throw away and a visit there to see the glass and pottery making facilities would make a fantastic trip any summer day.

Let me just mention that on the 28/29 of July, Harpoon Brewery hosts its annual Barbeque festival and it is one the most amazing events to sample barbeque experts from around the country. Beer, beef and beautiful sky will be abundant!

Good Morning Wake-up Table

Blog July 23, 2012

Edwards Table



The colors of fresh seasonal fruits can be an inspiration for setting tables. The bright colors and contrasts help make morning breakfast tables especially bright. Blueberry picking is at its prime right now, find a farm near you and get a few pounds! (You can freeze on a cookie sheet and then combine in a bag quickly for later use).

Set a mix of white plates with either blue and white accent plates* which on top are placed small bowls (glass or ceramic, glass will show the colors.). Mix up a collection of blue and white napkins* for increased interest. Create a fruit salad of whatever you have on hand (blueberries, orange segments and strawberries would look great but feel free to add sliced bananas, coconut shreds, grapes, raspberries, or walnuts). Toss the salad in its own juices or a few tablespoons of orange juice and lavender honey to preserve and sweeten a bit if desired.

Serve the fruit salad in the small bowls. Float some sunflower heads as a centerpiece to complete the Good Morning Wake-UP table and warm up some good morning muffins* and serve in a cool basket or bowl.

If at all possible add an edible flower* to your servings. Big bright nasturtiums or a peppery marigold can make the start of your day from ho-hum to extraordinary. And that’s what it’s all about. Taking the expected to the extraordinary, easily!

*ideas to follow this week.

Welcome to Edwards Table

Being a "tabletop expert" isnt always easy. People think you might be an exotic dancer of some sort, then they think you repair surfaces of tables or build custom tables and so forth.  I might have to go for entertaining expert, but when I look at many "entertaining" sights its all about food, recipies, drinks or cooking.  I'm a bit deeper than that, more of a dinnerware guru of sorts.  Part stylist, artisan, educator, florist and cook, that knows how to set the table for the psychological beneifts of succeeding at being a perfect host.

Larry Nolan, America's Sculpture Artist

Last week I was lucky enought to meet a scupltor by the name of Larry Nolan, who works at his studio in Windsor, Vermont. I"ve met many artists and there are certainly many amazing people all over the world that I may never meet- so it was fantastic to meet him!  But he really stood out and I want to share my experience.  What I loved about this artist was his "joy".  You could easily see that he loved what he did and his spirit was incredibly energetic. What a tremendous talent.

Scattered all over his studio, in Windsor, Vermont, which was originally a church from the 1800's, were massive molds, studies, paintings and current works that each were fine examples of a superior talent. I wont go into detail as many might be private commissions and am respectful of that but I can say his skill of sculpture was so impressive. The details of his figures reminded me of the kind of perfection you see in Greco-Roman studies. I was so impressed and had to give him a shout of praise.